Pages

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Scandinavian-Style Cucumber Pickle

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I am, by disposition, easily moved to laughter or tears and I have an unusually expressive face. It takes no special training to sense my mood or humor, but every once in a while I fool everyone. I mention this, because last weekend I was moved to tears by something quite extraordinary. Bob and I make it a point to attend local celebrations and festivals. These events were originally created to celebrate family, community and heritage, and we like to honor that spirit whenever we can. Last weekend, one of the towns close to us held their annual Scandinavian Festival and we happily attended. Usually, the entertainment consists of folk dancing and music from Finland, Norway, Denmark or Sweden. The dancers are members of groups that meet bi-monthly for practice and some of them are very good. They are, however, amateurs. What makes them special is the participation of families who often have three generations on stage for any given performance. Despite the participation of families, the number of dancers dwindles every year. There, obviously, are not enough young people to replace the seniors who can no longer participate. It's sad to see the passing of a tradition, but we enjoy it while we can and applaud the efforts of those who try to preserve memories of the old ways for their children. We sat through a handful of dance performances before heading to the beer garden to sample some typically Scandinavian food and drink. We never made it. A men's chorus, about 50 members strong, had taken the stage and, as they began to sing, it was clear we were in for something special. These were not young men, and I'd guess the youngest of them to be my age. That meant the group had lots of time to practice and perfect their singing, and perfect it they had. As they sang, my throat started to knot, but I kept my act together until the end of their performance when they began to sing the Finlandia hymn. As they sang, an elderly group in the back of audience stood and joined hands. Some of them were moved to tears and as I watched I, too, began to cry. Now it was a sedate cry, mind you, but the tears were very real. I was moved by the haunting beauty of the music and their obvious remembrance of times and places once well known but never more to be. I think you might understand the emotion if you listen to this small portion of the Finnish national anthem. It is quite beautiful.

Now, because this is a food blog, I can't let you go without sharing a recipe. It's time for us to move from the sublime to the ridiculous. Actually, there will be two new Scandinavian recipes, but only one of them will be featured today. This is a cucumber pickle that is lovely to serve with dishes as diverse as barbecue or Swedish meatballs. It is amazingly easy to make, and, as long as you thinly slice the cucumbers, you can't go wrong. Ideally, the dish should be made with seedless cucumbers, but as you can see I break my own rules. I know you'll enjoy these. Here's the recipe.

51 comments
:

I watched and listened to this video before I actually read what you had to say. And the song just blew me away, how beautiful! I enjoyed it much better than the picture slide show. I was going to ask you what it is, so glad you have told us. I would have been right there with you, but crying like a baby!!! Thanks for sharing this beautiful and haunting tune with us!!

I love cucumber pickles, will have to give this a try. I've enjoyed the singing, it's indeed beautiful. The first time I listened with my radio on in the background, the second time, I just have to switch the radio off. Thank you!

I have a *very* similar recipe posted on my blog! I grew up eating dilled cucumbers, and the recipe is just like yours except that instead of parsley and mint it has a bit of dried dill. Not quite savory and not quite sweet, it's still a favorite treat to eat in the summer!

Other than a couple of the herbs, that recipe is almost identical to a Thai fresh cucumber pickle recipe I've had for years! Weird how two almost diametrically opposed regions develop such a similar recipe idea!!!

PS loved the song - but you'll have to take responsibility for tears all over the world now!!

Oh, I just love pickled cucumber and this recipe is such a delight. As a teen, I often prepared carrots, cucumber and olive in vinegar... strange, I know, but I just love the simplicity and grounded taste.

Isn't it amazing how music can move you. I'm from Scandinavian roots and grew up with this cucumber pickle. I'm craving it now...I haven't had it in a long time, makes me miss my grandma. Now you are going to make me cry... Thanks for the lovely post.

Mary, I can't remember if I've contacted you about the Tribute to Becky (of Random Musings of a Deco Lady) on her birthday, August 29. I'm not sure if you're on facebook, but there is a page dedicated to her where memories, remakes of her recipes, etc will be shared that day. Even if you don't have a FB page, a mention on that date on your blog would be great. I can post it to the tribute page.

Thank you so much for the visit Mary, like you I have stories behind all my cakes and other bakes too. Will pull a chair and pour myself a tall cup of tea coz I know I will be hooked looking at your dishes and enjoying your stories.

I would love to learn how to do some traditional Scandinavian dancing. Interestingly, when I visited this past summer, it felt like a lot of younger people there do not keep a lot of the traditions either. Makes me a little sad.

Site Meter

Privacy Policy

This blog does not share personal information with third-parties nor does it store information about your visit for use other than to analyze content performance through the use of cookies, which you can turn off at anytime by modifying your Internet browser's settings. Third party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on a a users prior visits to this website. Google's use of the DoubleClick cookie enables it and its partners to serve ads. This blog is not responsible for the republishing of the content found here on other Web sites or media without the owners permission. This privacy policy is subject to change without notice